Pro Bono Perspectives S3E1: Vu Le, NonprofitAF

Vu Le of the NonprofitAF blog and formerly Rainer Valley Corps joins host and Common Impact CEO Danielle Holly for the Season 3 premiere of Pro Bono Perspectives. Recorded the day after the violent insurrection on the Capitol, Vu and Danielle discuss how the nonprofit sector can and must be bolder in responding to injustices like this. Philanthropy has become the white moderate Martin Luther King, Jr. famously warned us about in his “Letter From a Birmingham Jail,” and we must get out of our own way if we are to address the true roots of systemic inequity, not just the symptoms.

An expert in nonprofit capacity building, Vu explains that while necessary and widely underfunded, capacity building has actually been harming – not helping – many organizations, especially those that are BIPOC-led. It’s time for an existential crisis in philanthropy, Vu declares. Time to reject harmful funding practices and flawed approaches to capacity building. Time to move beyond sharing power to releasing it so that underrepresented and marginalized groups can take the helm and lead in creating transformational change.

For more of Vu's words of wisdom on nonprofits, philanthropy, and CSR, visit his blog, NonprofitAF.com.